Against Creativity Summary

Is creativity a tool for innovation, or has it become just another gear in the capitalist machine?

1. Creativity Has Been Shaped by Neoliberal Capitalism

In the past, creativity was considered divine or deeply personal, tied to the gods or as a force used to express emotion and individuality. However, in the modern capitalist era, creativity is seen differently. It's viewed as a skill that individuals must develop to make themselves more marketable, more productive, and more appealing in the economic marketplace.

Neoliberalism redefined creativity. This ideology positions society as a giant marketplace, where individuals act as self-interested players. Under this concept, creativity shifted from being a personal or spiritual process to a resource you use to advance in the economy – like when employers demand "entrepreneurial" employees. Creativity, once sacred or emotional, is now transactional.

Additionally, governments have adopted this neoliberal view of creativity, championing deregulation to foster "innovation." Programs like public services have been criticized for not being "nimble" enough. The idea of creativity has moved into political discourse, often used to mask cuts in social protections and to justify harsh policy changes.

Examples

• "Entrepreneurial" qualities are frequently requested in job descriptions, highlighting the need to "think innovatively" for competitive advantage.
• Deregulation policies in Western nations have been sold as fostering creative solutions to economic challenges.
• Political speeches often label schools and hospitals as outdated due to their inability to "innovate."

2. Creative Jobs Often Demand More Labor for Less Reward

Modern workplaces with open designs, ping-pong tables, and flexible hours seem fun at first glance, but they frequently mask a darker reality. Employees in "creative" jobs often face enormous workloads, stress, and unstable payment structures due to these work models.

Richard Florida's book, The Rise of the Creative Class, pitched creative professionals as drivers of the economy. However, the actual practice shows employers using this as a cost-cutting mechanism. They offer freelance contracts instead of stable jobs and expect employees to find their own resources, often erasing the benefits of "creative" freedom. The glamour of creative professions often comes without conventional job protections.

Some workers are finding alternatives through cooperative models. Cooperatives allow creative professionals to operate with shared ownership. These models foster genuinely new ways of working, where profits and tasks are divided more equitably, stepping away from the exploitative conditions of large corporations.

Examples

• Freelancers fight constantly for gigs without the stability of traditional roles.
• Creative workers are sometimes underpaid with the assumption that exposure is part of their payment.
• Manchester's Coffee Cranks Cooperative employs collective ownership to ensure fair opportunities among members.

3. Real Creativity Embraces Other Perspectives

Creativity isn’t just about fitting into existing structures; it’s about embracing new ways of seeing and being. Our cultural icons of creativity—such as Steve Jobs or Elon Musk—often represent specific ideals tied to wealth, privilege, and societal norms, ignoring perspectives that differ fundamentally from these norms.

For example, individuals with disabilities like blindness or deafness experience the world uniquely. This distinct way of interacting with the environment is highly creative, offering alternative approaches to existence that our society frequently undervalues. Blindness or deafness is often seen as a "problem" to fix, rather than as a different way to navigate life.

Redefining these experiences as "diffabilities" rather than disabilities allows society to celebrate them instead of attempting to fix them. The creation of environments for deaf individuals, such as vibrant clubs that utilize bass and dynamic lighting, is one example of how creativity can build something radically different.

Examples

• Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg represent a narrowly defined "innovative genius" trope.
• Deaf clubs reframe music experiences for people without hearing as tactile, visual, and communal events.
• Society presses individuals to get "corrective" measures like cochlear implants instead of promoting a broader definition of what is normal.

4. Austerity Found a Mask in "Creative Solutions"

Following the 2008 financial crisis, governments slashed public services while bailing out banks. Instead of acknowledging these austerity measures as decreases in funding, policymakers called for "creative adjustments." This clever phrase justified cutting budgets, as public organizations had to innovate just to survive.

Cultural institutions were among the worst affected. Museums, libraries, and galleries scrambled to make up for gaps in funding by seeking sponsorships from private companies, sometimes with questionable ethics. Public libraries, once spaces devoted to books and community, were tasked with offering job training sessions or mental health services due to reduced government efforts.

Cities joined the bandwagon too, competing for attention by proposing tax breaks or other incentives to corporate giants like Amazon. These changes, dressed as creative revitalizations, often enriched private interests without addressing the real needs of communities.

Examples

• Libraries began hosting workforce training, shifting away from their traditional community role.
• In 2008, financial institutions received enormous bailouts, leaving educational and healthcare institutions to suffer cuts.
• Cities raced to win Amazon’s HQ2 bid by offering tax benefits that drained public resources.

5. Big Tech Turns Creativity Into Ad Machines

Big tech companies like Google and Facebook thrive on creativity – not to enhance humanity but to refine advertising techniques. Every app click, shopping decision, and search is creatively logged to craft targeted ads. This is the monetization of human action at an unprecedented scale.

Initially, Silicon Valley hailed itself as a terrain for bold experiments, reckless innovation, and pushing boundaries. Yet, over time, companies like Facebook switched their focus – instead of building tools to solve real problems, they concentrated on manipulating consumer behavior to maximize profit.

The wider sharing economy echoes this shift. Platforms like Uber and Airbnb creatively turned casual exchanges of driving people and renting out space into billions-dollar industries, redefining everyday acts of sharing as commodities.

Examples

• Facebook’s algorithms perfected ad customization based on user behavior.
• Uber transformed informal carpooling into a gig economy empire.
• Etsy encourages individuals to sell crafts, making a leisure activity another profit model.

6. "Creative Cities" Often Erase Their Communities

Cities globally are attempting to rebrand themselves as “creative hubs,” but these efforts often miss the mark. The Wynwood district of Miami, covered in street art, seems like a vibrant success story but is tied to real estate deals. These "creative interventions" cater to attracting investors and professional urbanites but overlook vital community engagement.

Bilbao's Guggenheim success story inspired other urban areas to imitate the “creative city” model. This resulted in formulaic strategies—art installations, public ping-pong tables, trendy cafes—but failed to address local community problems. These spaces focus on new, wealthier residents while ignoring housing concerns or childcare.

True creative urban design would prioritize people already living there over commodifying neighborhoods.

Examples

• Wynwood's murals served as a real estate investment strategy, not an art-first initiative.
• Public spaces included ping-pong tables and trendy cafes, overshadowing real infrastructure gaps.
• Many cities today mimic Bilbao's Guggenheim success but rarely achieve real in-depth community revival.

7. Creativity in the Workplace Exploits Passion

Employers often sell the idea of “creativity” in jobs as empowering or fulfilling, but it has become a method to exploit passion. Creative roles are glamorized, with promises of flexibility and freedom, which entice workers to exhaust themselves pursuing passion-driven work.

Freelancers in graphic design, writing, or programming are examples of how creativity intersects hustle culture. They’re encouraged to work continuously, accept low rates, or overcommit out of love for their craft. Employers often use exposure or fulfillment as justification for unfair treatment.

Cooperatives that prioritize shared goals and earnings offer an alternative by allowing workers to maintain financial stability while genuinely enjoying their creative pursuits.

Examples

• Freelancers accept lower pay for “passion projects.”
• Companies underpay creatives, claiming the work itself should be fulfilling.
• Worker cooperatives like Manchester’s Coffee Cranks focus on balance and collective ownership.

8. Corporate Creativity Seeks Monopoly, Not Change

Corporations, whether tech giants or creative studios, often use their resources to monopolize innovation. Instead of embracing ideas that tackle inequality or work-life balance, they mainly aim to secure market dominance, leaving workers and consumers in a cycle of dependency.

This aggressive attitude is why platforms dominate industries—Google owns the search world while Airbnb controls the temporary housing market. Such monopolization limits creativity by prioritizing incremental improvements for profits over groundbreaking innovations that could otherwise challenge inequality.

Examples

• Google’s search monopoly curbs space for competitive, innovative startups.
• Amazon creatively leans on warehouse efficiency but exploits minimal wage workers.
• Airbnb modified creative housing solutions into investments that intensify gentrification.

9. Creativity Could Be a Force for Systemic Change

True creativity is collaborative and communal—a counterweight to the self-interest promoted by current models. Cooperatives, community-led art initiatives, and environment-focused programs are just examples of where untapped creativity flourishes outside the market-driven mindset.

By valuing diversity in thought and background, creativity can tackle modern problems like sustainability, social inequality, and education gaps. We can bypass the limited scope of "new product launches" and embrace change that nurtures humanity at large.

Examples

• Spain’s Mondragón University is run as a co-op, fostering real shared innovation.
• Inclusive spaces like dance clubs for deaf communities show the depth of creative inclusivity.
• Transitioning from freelance stress to cooperative creativity brings real workplace happiness.

Takeaways

1. Explore cooperatives or community-centered solutions to embrace collaborative creativity.
2. Advocate for redefining public services as investments in communities, not just expenses.
3. Focus on human-centric creativity that values diverse viewpoints and collective well-being over profit.